Cheers and Jeers: Dec. 29, 2012

Published: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 4:34 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 28, 2012 at 4:34 p.m.

Action on bullying — Local school officials are doing their part to comply with a statewide effort to crack down on bullying.

That is good news for all the local students who are potential targets for bullies, and make no mistake: that is all local students.

“Bullying is not a new problem. But it is becoming a more significant problem, and schools all over the country are starting to crack down,” said Terrebonne Superintendent Philip Martin. “Anything that’s intended to embarrass, humiliate, belittle — anything like that should not be tolerated.”

Martin and his counterparts in Lafourche are taking the problem seriously and have signed onto the program, which includes a training program for all school employees on how to recognize bullying. It also includes a written plan on how to report and investigate suspected bullying.

In the end, if the program prevents some of the traumatic and sometimes tragic consequences of bullying, it will have been worth whatever it took to put into place.

JEERS

Bad timing — Wind and fires were the suspected culprits behind several local power outages on Christmas Day.

A power outage at any time is inconvenient for the many people it can affect. But on Christmas, when so many families are spending quality time together or hosting large gatherings, it is particularly disruptive.

Altogether, thousands of homes were affected by power outages on Christmas, an unfortunate side-effect of the hard winds that swept through our area.

While the timing was terrible, things could easily have been much worse.

Unlike much of the South, we had no tornadoes, and our storms were damaging but not deadly.

There are always reasons to be thankful if we look hard enough.

CHEERS

A brisk business — While national companies reported a somewhat sluggish holiday shopping season, local retailers said this year was a good one for business.

“This was one of the busiest, definitely. I think people were just shopping. I didn’t advertise any more than I normally would. It was actually less,” said Brenda Felger, owner of Felger’s Footwear on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma.

Anyone who was out shopping in the days leading up to Christmas can attest to the throngs at local shopping centers.

That is just anecdotal evidence, of course. But there did seem to be a robust shopping season under way locally. Let’s hope all our businesses were able to benefit from our booming local economy.

CHEERS

A big improvement — Work should start some time in the coming year on a new government complex on La. 24 in Gray.

Eventually, the complex will include a new juvenile-detention center, an emergency-operations center and a Public Works facility.

The money to build the $15 million government installation will come from grant money and the parish government.

“After Hurricane Gustav decimated the parish, it became obvious that we needed to start planning to centralize some of our government facilities in an area outside the 100-year floodplain,” said parish Manager Al Levron.

It will be a shining star for Terrebonne Parish, and a real improvement for the people who use the many services offered at the new complex.

<p class="bold allcaps">CHEERS</p>
<p>Action on bullying — Local school officials are doing their part to comply with a statewide effort to crack down on bullying.</p><p>That is good news for all the local students who are potential targets for bullies, and make no mistake: that is all local students.</p><p>“Bullying is not a new problem. But it is becoming a more significant problem, and schools all over the country are starting to crack down,” said Terrebonne Superintendent Philip Martin. “Anything that's intended to embarrass, humiliate, belittle — anything like that should not be tolerated.”</p><p>Martin and his counterparts in Lafourche are taking the problem seriously and have signed onto the program, which includes a training program for all school employees on how to recognize bullying. It also includes a written plan on how to report and investigate suspected bullying.</p><p>In the end, if the program prevents some of the traumatic and sometimes tragic consequences of bullying, it will have been worth whatever it took to put into place.</p><h3>JEERS</h3>
<p>Bad timing — Wind and fires were the suspected culprits behind several local power outages on Christmas Day.</p><p>A power outage at any time is inconvenient for the many people it can affect. But on Christmas, when so many families are spending quality time together or hosting large gatherings, it is particularly disruptive.</p><p>Altogether, thousands of homes were affected by power outages on Christmas, an unfortunate side-effect of the hard winds that swept through our area.</p><p>While the timing was terrible, things could easily have been much worse.</p><p>Unlike much of the South, we had no tornadoes, and our storms were damaging but not deadly.</p><p>There are always reasons to be thankful if we look hard enough.</p><h3>CHEERS</h3>
<p>A brisk business — While national companies reported a somewhat sluggish holiday shopping season, local retailers said this year was a good one for business.</p><p>“This was one of the busiest, definitely. I think people were just shopping. I didn't advertise any more than I normally would. It was actually less,” said Brenda Felger, owner of Felger's Footwear on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma.</p><p>Anyone who was out shopping in the days leading up to Christmas can attest to the throngs at local shopping centers.</p><p>That is just anecdotal evidence, of course. But there did seem to be a robust shopping season under way locally. Let's hope all our businesses were able to benefit from our booming local economy.</p><h3>CHEERS</h3>
<p>A big improvement — Work should start some time in the coming year on a new government complex on La. 24 in Gray.</p><p>Eventually, the complex will include a new juvenile-detention center, an emergency-operations center and a Public Works facility.</p><p>The money to build the $15 million government installation will come from grant money and the parish government.</p><p>“After Hurricane Gustav decimated the parish, it became obvious that we needed to start planning to centralize some of our government facilities in an area outside the 100-year floodplain,” said parish Manager Al Levron.</p><p>It will be a shining star for Terrebonne Parish, and a real improvement for the people who use the many services offered at the new complex.</p><p>Editorials represent the opinions of</p><p>the newspaper, not of any individual.</p>